Grass, Parchment, and Toothpaste
by Rathias
Summary: ONE SHOT: In his final moments, Harry Potter finds himself thinking of someone entirely unexpected.
1. Grass, Parchment, and Toothpaste

** This is just a small one shot I wanted to do to fulfill my desire for a Harry/Hermione scene. If this gets enough attention, maybe I'll indulge more into it. **

**One of the basic premises for this to make sense is that, pulling from the movie-verse, when Harry and Hermione share that dance together in the tent during the 7th movie, Hermione herself began to realize that she could never love a man quite as much as she loved Harry. A bond which she thought was only limited to that of a brother/sister relationship transcended in that moment into something more - the understanding that both of these people have spent their entire lives trying to belong somewhere, and that no one else could understand - not even Ron. When this realization occurred to her, it finally dawned on her that she was supposed to be with Harry all along, having only become compassionate towards Ron when she convinced herself that someone like Harry could never be with a woman like her. **

**Not going to get into too much more detail about changes since this is just (maybe) a one shot, but that's where this sprung from.**

**Thanks for reading!**

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As he walked through the Forbidden Forest under the guise of the invisibility cloak, towards a fate he was surprised that he so easily came to terms with, he found his thoughts drifting towards those close to him. All of the many friends he had come to make over the years, and the many of those he held most dear to his heart who had given their life for him. His parents. Sirius. Remus and Lupin.

He could hear voice now. One of them sounded very familiar - Yaxley. He knew he was getting closer and closer to his final encounter with Voldemort and so his mind strayed to thoughts of his friends, Hermione and Ron. Who had gone through so much with him throughout these years that he couldn't have asked for better people to call such. His mind strayed to past thoughts… of the first time he met Ron, standing there on Platform 9 3/4, when he strolled up and asked his mum about how he was supposed to get to the platform.

And then there was Hermione.

Then there was Hermione.

It hit him like a bag of bricks, but he realized that out of everybody that has come across in his life, she would be the one he would miss the most. Her constant nagging about paying attention during their studies or completely their homework on time had become something of a constant in his life. A reminder of the simpler joys, protecting him every now and then from the horrors of the real world.

She had been with him through it all. From when Ron and him were bickering over his entry into the Triwizard Tournament, for the search of the Horcuxes, she had been a constant where he couldn't put Ron in that same category, even after trying.

In his darkest hours, she had been his beacon of hope. She had been there refusing to let him give up when every fiber of Harry screamed that he had every right to.

He would miss her so much.

He didn't realize it but he had stopped walking since he had first through of Hermione, and his found this realization to be very confusing. She was his friend… but… did he feel more than that towards her? He loved her. He knew that for sure, but to him it had always been like a brother and sister sort of love, a mutual feeling of compassion for another who he could fully and wholly relate to.

Was it… more?

And for the first time since he stepped away from Hogwarts and into the darkness of the forest, did he feel the slightest hesitation about what he was going to do.

What about Ginny? They had shared many moments and for the past few years, culminating in the events of the year prior, did they become more than friends. Why was he now, of all times, questioning his relationship with her and putting someone who had been a friend for so many years on the same pedestal.

Could he…

No.

He couldn't 'love' Hermione like that… could he?

'I'm about to die, for pete's sake… are these really going to be my last thoughts? Bit late now,' He joked to himself as he found the courage inside of him to keep pressing his feet forward.

Coming into a clearing deep into the forest, he found them.

"It seems," he could see Voldemort addressing the Death Eaters that surrounded him, "… that I was mistaken."

He took a deep breath, and removed the cloak from around him, "You weren't."

"HARRY! NO!" He could hear Hagrid yell before one of the Death Eaters hit him brutally and told him to be quiet. But that was not his pivotal focus right now. His one focus was the man standing in front of him, the man who had committed so many atrocities and caused Harry so many years of pain.

A smirk appeared on the face of his enemy as his head tilted sideways, "Harry Potter…"

… The boy who lived."

It was in those next moments that everything moved in slow motion. Voldemort had not wasted a minute to finally strike down his mortal enemy. His arm lashed back as his mouth began to form the words that Harry knew would be coming.

His mind, however, was now focused on something else. In those final moments, he saw that instead of visioning ginger and the smell of a familiar home like he thought he would, he saw wavy locks of brown and the smell of spearmint toothpaste.

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**A/N I will also say I put a very personal experience of my own into this. I'm a combat veteran and a very close experience made me realize my heart was in the wrong place. **

**I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing - and thank you for allowing me to have your time.**

**PS Please forgive any mistakes in my spelling/grammar.. this was a 2:00am writing session.**


	2. Discontinuation

**Hello everyone.**

**I never thought I would do something like this, discontinue a story. I'm a stubborn man, also a Marine, and normally when I hit my head against a wall when it comes to a problem, eventually something sparks and I get it done. However, I am sorrowful to say that it is not the way with this story.**

**When I first wrote the one shot that would become this story, I thought I could turn it into something much bigger than that. However, the spark I had for the original story eventually fluttered.. then died. My original plan for this story became distorted in a way where I wasn't even sure where I was going with it anymore, and where it is now is not what I had envisioned it to be when I first started writing it. It became something different.**

**I would like to take this time and say thank you very much for taking time and reading through this fan fiction. I hope you can stick around my page as I will be writing another Harry Potter story, with however, better planning - forethought - and character development. I will however, be removing the chapters before this one and instead leaving the original one shot I wrote.**

**Once more, I appreciate your time. **

**Thank you again,**

**Rathias.**


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